Notable Quotables - 05/21/2007

Hillary’s Moral Courage

“Many Americans — Democratic, Republican, independent — seem hungry for a Trumanesque figure, a truth-telling, bare-knuckled president who will give it to us straight. The question now is whether anybody in the 2008 field can measure up....All the candidates will use their life stories to show a sense of moral purpose....Hillary Clinton had a stark moral choice: whether to stay with her husband when President Clinton’s philandering with Monica Lewinsky was exposed. Her decision to stand by him could not have been easy.”— Newsweek’s Evan Thomas, May 14 cover story.

Silliest Debate Question Ever

“Seriously, would it be good for America to have Bill Clinton back living in the White House?”— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews to the Republican presidential candidates in a debate at the Reagan Library, May 3. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

Lefties Invade GOP Debate

“Mayor Giuliani, Bradley Winters of New York would like to know if there’s anything you learned or regret during your time as mayor in your dealings with the African-American community?”“Governor Romney, Daniel Duchovnik [ph] from Walnut Creek, California wants to know, ‘What do you dislike most about America?’”“Congressman Hunter, Kay Thomas from Honolulu, Hawaii, wants to know if you watched Al Gore’s environmental movie, An Inconvenient Truth?” “Governor Huckabee, this question comes from a reader in New York: In light of the scandals plaguing the current administration and its allies, involving corruption and cronyism, which mistakes have you learned not to repeat?”— Reader questions for the GOP candidates selected by The Politico’s Jim VandeHei at the May 3 MSNBC debate. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

“No Lefty Flame Thrower”

“Don’t get her wrong; she says she will never vote for any measure that funds this war, including the one that could come for a vote today. But she is credited by Democrats with being able to balance principle and pragmatism.... Lee, 60, is soft-spoken and is no lefty flame thrower. The daughter of a veteran of two wars (whom she still calls ‘Colonel’), she says she is not a pacifist.”— The Washington Post’s Lois Romano in a May 10 profile of Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), the only House member to vote against U.S. military action after 9/11.

Racists Vote Republican Anyway

ABC’s Sam Donaldson: “[Senator Barack Obama is] an African-American. Is the country ready? Well, I think it is. And he said he thinks it is. He said he thinks he’ll lose some votes because of that, and so the question is, what does the word ‘some’ mean?....”Moderator George Stephanopoulos: “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m naive, but Sam, I guess I think that anyone who’s not going to vote for Barack Obama because he is black isn’t going to vote for a Democrat anyway.”— ABC’s This Week, May 13. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

Beware of Crashing Stocks

“Did you know that the stock market has hit a milestone reminiscent of what happened before the Big Crash?... What about the stock market? Even with the rising gas prices the stock market is still going crazy and, as we said, 1929 was the Big Crash, and this is reminiscent of what happened before that....Beware, and be aware out there.”— ABC’s Diane Sawyer to financial contributor Mellody Hobson on Good Morning America, May 8.

Blair, Bush’s Latest Victim

Brian Williams: “There are combat casualties of the war in Iraq, there are civilian casualties. Today we saw a political casualty, Tony Blair stepping down....”Keith Miller: “Tony Blair was perhaps the best Prime Minister America never had. But at home, the press labeled him ‘Bush’s poodle,’ and his approval rating plunged.”— NBC Nightly News, May 10.

Typical New York Times Neutrality

“While [Socialist candidate Segolene] Royal has pledged to protect and unite France, [conservative Nicolas] Sarkozy has often taken a ruthless us-against-them attitude....In this election, authority apparently is deemed to be more important than compassion.”— Paris-based reporter Eliane Sciolino in the May 5 New York Times.

“With his raw, often divisive rhetoric, Mr. Sarkozy will have to change course to neutralize deep-rooted hostility against him, particularly in the tough ethnic suburbs....The election was a triumph of raw ambition, efficiency and political sleight-of-hand.”— Sciolino writing after Sarkozy’s victory, in the May 7 New York Times.

Just FBI Hype About “Six Morons”

“The details of the supposed [Fort Dix] plot don’t seem to hold together that well either, though that did not stop extensive and entirely credulous coverage on TV, the Internet, in print today. The men supposedly had plans to gain access to the base disguised as pizza delivery guys, then cut the power somehow, then quote, ‘hit four, five or six Humvees and light the whole place and retreat without any losses.’ And take the tape of yourselves practicing and have it copied at FotoMat. In other words, the FBI has arrested six morons.”— Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown, May 8.

Nope, No Religious Connection

“It is unclear what role, if any, religion played in the attack Mr. Shnewer and the five other men are charged with planning....Certainly there is no evidence that they picked up radical ideas at either mosque.”— New York Times reporter Alan Feuer writing about the Fort Dix plot, May 14.

vs.

“Throughout the 90-minute-long tape, above the booming gunfire at a Pennsylvania target range, the jihadists could be heard screaming ‘God is great!’...[and] chillingly discussing killing soldiers ‘in the name of Allah.’” — New York Post correspondent Jana Winter, May 13.

Lesley Stahl, Bias Police?

CBS’s Lesley Stahl: “George Bush, not a fan?”CNN’s Lou Dobbs: “No, I’m not....”Stahl: “I’m sitting here saying to myself, ‘This man runs a news show?’”Dobbs: “I do.”Stahl: “And you can just tell me you don’t like the President?...What about fair and balanced?...That has to be part of what a journalist is, is fair and balanced.”— CBS’s 60 Minutes profile of Lou Dobbs, May 6. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

Flashback:“I predict historians are going to be totally baffled by how American people fell in love with this man [Ronald Reagan] and followed him the way we did.”— Stahl on NBC’s Later with Bob Costas, January 11, 1989.

“Here’s a guy who fooled most of the people most of the time....He was a person who didn’t understand the issues at all....He led us off in the wrong direction.”— Stahl discussing Reagan’s legacy on the America’s Talking channel, October 25, 1995.

Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Killed

“War should be the great equalizer, that no one’s son or daughter is privileged from duty or danger. I wonder how the last four years might have been different if only our President had asked sacrifice from everyone. Instead, mostly folks from the working class and professional soldiers are doing the dying, while the rich spend their tax cuts. War on the cheap, except for those fighting it.”— PBS’s Bill Moyers on his Bill Moyers Journal, May 11. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

Diagnosing Bush’s Delusions

“Denying the evidence of your eyes is the most extreme form of the coping mechanism called denial....A President who insists that a war will succeed despite setback after setback? It’s risky to put a politician on the couch, but that has not kept President Bush’s critics from charging that he is ‘in a state of denial’ about the situation in Iraq....Psychology researchers, including some who advise politicians, have reached the same conclusion. ‘I do think there is denial on Bush’s part in his running of the war,’ says Kerry Sulkowicz, clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University Medical Center....‘The tip-off for denial is perpetual optimism, a pathological certainty that things are going well.’”— Newsweek Senior Editor Sharon Begley, May 21 issue.

Giuliani’s Evil Cover-Up Exposed

Co-host Joy Behar: “One thing is that Giuliani post-9/11 appeared to be very heroic. But now they’re saying that he was not that efficient in helping the people who were the recovery people, the responders.”Rosie O’Donnell: “Also he was, you know, instrumental in making sure that all of the steel was removed and shipped to Canada right away, Giuliani — was shipped to China, sorry — right away.”Behar: “For what purpose?”O’Donnell: “Well, to get it out of there and to have, you know, all of the stu — but it was all gone. So there was no, like, metal to test.”— Exchange on ABC’s The View, May 14. (With WMV video/MP3 audio)

Deciding the “Fate of the Planet”

“As part of our ongoing series of reports on the environment, ‘America Goes Green,’ we take on the question that can make otherwise competent adults quake with fear. We’ve all been there. You come to the end of the checkout line and then comes that question: ‘Paper or plastic?’ For that one brief moment, we grocery buyers are made to feel like the fate of the planet hinges on our decision.”— NBC’s Brian Williams on the May 7 Nightly News.

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